Publishing giants go toe-to-toe with rival alternative weeklies.

Now that the opening shots has been fired in the battle between L.A.'s alternative newsweeklies, two out-of-town publishing giants are settling down for a long fight for the hearts and eyeballs of Angelenos.

The much-anticipated first issue of New Times Los Angeles hit newsstands throughout L.A. County on Aug. 22, bringing with it the mixture of sex and political pot shots that has made the New Times chain famous (or, in some cases, infamous) around the country.

And although Phoenix-based New Times Inc. has its share of detractors, media observers say its L.A. outlet is likely to have a successful ran.

New Times owns six other alternative newsweeklies in Phoenix, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Houston and Miami. On July 1 it acquired the Los Angeles View, a 75,000-circulation alternative newsweekly based in West L.A.

A month later, it announced the purchase of the Miracle Mile-based Los Angeles Reader, which was subsequently closed. While some staff members from both papers now work for New Times, most were laid off following the purchase.

The 100,000-circulation New Times is now competing head-to-head against the L.A. Weekly. Like New Times, the Weekly is owned by an out-of-town publishing chain, in this case New York-based Stern Publishing Co., which also owns New York's Village Voice and Orange County's OC Weekly.

L.A. Weekly Publisher Michael Sigman downplayed the idea of a newspaper war in the offing between his publication and New Times. He said his paper is not planning any editorial changes in response to its new competitor.

The Weekly boosted its circulation from 175,000 to 195,000 in June, but that move was made before New Times entered the picture, he said.

"It's fine," Sigman said, when asked about the new publication. "I kind of miss the other two papers a little bit."

The first issue of New Times featured a cover photo of Republican Assemblywoman Paula Boland of Granada Hills with a picture of the Capitol dome superimposed on her head; the headline referred to her as a "big-haired pol." A photo of a lingerie-clad female pelvis also graced the front page. Subsequent issues have been somewhat tamer, with cover articles on Long Beach's minor league baseball team and accordion playing.

New Times Managing Editor Jack Cheevers, a former reporter in the San Fernando Valley office of the Los Angeles Times, said his paper plans to be irreverent.

"We aim to be interesting and different," Cheevers said. "We're not going to be polite, particularly when we write about government."

Although most of the New Times papers are believed to be profitable, the company's San Francisco outlet, acquired in January 1995 - the SF Weekly - is straggling. Its circulation is still considerably lower than the competing San Francisco Bay Guardian, and New Times Inc. co-owner and Executive Editor Michael Lacey conceded in a recent' Arizona Republic article that the SF Weekly is losing money.

Some observers predicted the chain will fare better in Los Angeles, though.

"They have a different kind of environment in San Francisco," said Richard Karpel, president of the Washington, D.C.based Association of Alternative Newspapers. "In L.A., there's not so much attachment to home. Everybody's from somewhere else anyway, so it's easier for an outsider to be successful."

While New Times papers are notorious for editorial attacks on competitors, Cheevers said most of the newsweekly's editorial guns will be aimed not at the L.A. Weekly, but the Los Angeles Times.

Between Cheevers and Editor Rick Barrs, a former night city editor with the Times, New Times has an unusual insight into the inner workings of L.A.'s biggest daily.

Indeed, the second issue of the paper featured an article from opinion columnist Steve Lowery criticizing Times Mirror Co. for allegedly succumbing to pressure from hunting lobbyists and killing a controversial story in its New York-based magazine Outdoor Life.

So far, media critics have been underwhelmed by the early issues. Ed Cray, a USC journalism professor, said the first issue of an alternative paper is highly important as a tool for gaining recognition. But the inaugural issue of New Times was forgettable, he said.

"It's too soon to tell, maybe, but it wasn't a good launch," Cray said. "When you launch an alternative paper, you want to have something that's going to attract attention; you want to catch somebody with their hand in the cookie jar or his hand up somebody's dress. They didn't do that."

Although few American cities still have competing daily newspapers, most have two or more free alternative newsweeklies. According to the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, revenues at its 107 member papers have risen an average of more 10 percent annually for the last six years. Circulation at member papers has climbed from 3 million in 1989 to 6.4 million this year, according to Karpel.